"Who we are in the present includes who we were in the past.” Those wise words from Fred “Mister” Rogers accurately describe Bassmaster Elite Series pro Caleb Kuphall, who has parlayed the techniques of his youth into a formidable flipping forte that earned him a blue trophy at last year’s Bassmaster Elite on Lake Guntersville. Nothing cryptic here; the Wisconsin pro grew up flipping shallow milfoil and very quickly realized that the principles and practices defining this technique fit his wheelhouse nicely.
“I think this technique is more fun than anything else; I’ve always enjoyed flipping shallow targets,” Kuphall said. “I’ve pretty much been a shallow-water fisherman for the majority of my lifetime. Heavy rod, heavy line, feeling the bites, jack ’em up hard and get ’em out of the thick stuff — it’s just a fun way to fish.” Growing up in southeast Wisconsin, Kuphall spent most of his formative years hunting through shallow milfoil beds. Plugging into the regional, then national, tournament fishing world would eventually introduce him to heavier flipping/punching scenarios, like dense Florida grass mats, but he’ll always value those early days that honed his blade.
“Generally, around home, we’re fishing milfoil in 5 to 10 feet and there are a lot of tournaments won like that,” he said. “If you want to win and fish for big fish in a grass lake, that’s pretty much what you got to do in a lot of the tournaments we have up here. “That’s how I got into flipping; it’s just a technique you got to learn in order to compete. It’s a simple technique, but you got to know what you’re doing.”
